‘The Flash’ 4.03 Review: “Luck Be a Lady”

To say that there was a lot going on in this episode is an understatement. But, there was a lot going on in this episode. While mostly enjoyable, it also tried to do too much. It’s nice that The Flash is actually giving more backstory to the meta of the week and that there were consequences to getting Barry out of the speed force, but for the sake of needing to close up some stories or open new ones, “Luck Be a Lady” didn’t always land on its feet. Once again, the episode was plagued with too many characters (while I love Harry, his return isn’t necessary) and there were a few head-scratching revelations. Despite this, though, the episode did have the lighter tone season four has been surprisingly good at maintaining so far, was outright hilarious at times, and pushed the overall plot forward.

Robert Falconer/The CW

I’ll start with what was really good about the episode before getting to certain criticisms. Sugar Lyn Beard as Becky Sharpe, AKA Hazard, was fantastic in her role. As a woman who’s been met with lousy luck her entire life (her identity was stolen twice!), she’s ecstatic that Lady Luck is now on her side. But even after she figures out that her streak of good luck is causing catastrophe around the city, she can’t get herself to care now that she’s “winning.” This says so much about her mindset and elitist behavior. She’s convinced herself that no one else matters and, despite having experienced bad luck her entire life, she’s unsympathetic to anyone else suffering from the same thing. Clearly, she doesn’t have a functioning conscience and, while she’s definitely a fun and memorable metahuman, seeing her be arrested was a relief.

The Flash is pacing their villain’s story fairly well thus far. It’s something to be cautiously optimistic about right now, but it’s only the third episode. It’s great having The Thinker know everything before Team Flash does and having them play catch-up. It really seems like there’s a plan and as of now, all the metas of the week have been linked back to the main plot, which is refreshing and feeds into the mystery of who exactly The Thinker is and what he wants. Clearly, he knows that Barry was going to escape the speed force and exactly where the portal was going to open. Why the twelve metahumans? Is there a reason behind the specific number? How does he know Barry is The Flash? What could he possibly have in store? None of these questions have been answered, but I look forward to finding out the reasons behind them.

Robert Falconer/The CW

The comedic timing in this episode was really great, even while being over-the-top and occasionally chaotic. It’s nice to see the team doing enjoyable things, like playing laser tag and eating out together at a park. It’s a refreshing escape from the basement of STAR Labs and really allows for Central City to feel like a city The Flash is a part of, rather than just a distant thing he has to save. Aside from the chaos that Hazard brought along with her, which made everyone rush into a panic, one of the standout scenes has Iris and Barry crashing a funeral so they can get married after their own string of bad luck: this includes Barry seeing Iris in her wedding dress, one of their venues burning down, and the backup venue being booked by another couple. Candice Patton and Grant Gustin are comedic gold in this scene. It’s wonderful that the writers are allowing Patton, in particular, to stretch her comedic acting chops. Getting this kind of fun material has been a long time coming and she delivers every time, her comedic timing being especially impeccable.

Iris freaking out over the wedding is understandable since the bad luck in this episode never let up. We know from last season how much she wants to marry Barry and that there have been a lot of things trying to prevent that from happening (sentient gorillas and Savitar being some of them). Her fears got the better of her. Since Barry’s absence is still fresh in her mind and with all the crazy events that have been happening in Central City, you can’t really blame her for wanting to seal the deal as quickly as possible for fear of something else coming up that could permanently prevent their marriage from happening. It was all played for comedy, but in the grander scheme of things, it makes sense given what she’s had to endure recently, her almost death being one of them. It’s funny that Barry doesn’t even try to talk her out of it, knowing that he wants to be married just as much as she does; he goes along with it in spite of some reservations (namely, them crashing a funeral).

Katie Wu/The CW

Unlike many other superheroes, Barry has always had a tendency to talk to the wrong-doing metahumans, try and convince them that they can be better and stop hurting people. It’s always a valiant effort and this time was no different. Even though he tried reasoning with Becky, she was adamant about… well, about only caring for her own needs. She didn’t even flinch when Barry told her that her new powers were hurting people. And this is always the general difference between Barry and all other metas who end up terrorizing people in some way. Despite knowing their backgrounds, their propensity for hurting others cannot be overlooked, but at least Barry makes the attempt.

Elsewhere, Joe’s house is falling apart. Part of it was probably the bad luck and the other reason being that it’s simply an old house. Squeaky pipes and water leaks have Cecile questioning whether they should even keep the house. Why not buy another one and start fresh? Especially since only Wally lives there besides them. Joe is reluctant at first because it’s the house Iris and Barry grew up in, the house he let Wally into after finding out about him, and the house he asked Cecile to move into with him. It’s been in the family for years. But it’s Barry who gives Joe sound advice this time around by saying, “It doesn’t matter where you live. All that matters is having people who love you.”

By the time Joe decides that maybe they should sell the West family home, Cecile drops a bombshell on him: she’s pregnant. It’s unexpected news and somewhat surprising. Joe’s a great dad already, but how the show will factor this news into the story (note: babies tend to disappear after being born) is something I’m interested in seeing play out. Will this bring Cecile closer to the West clan? Does this solidify her as a maternal figure in Iris’ life moving forward? Admittedly, finding out about a potential baby immediately following Wally’s abrupt departure was a bit off-putting, but I’ll withhold final judgement on this until the next episode.

Katie Yu/The CW

Harry and Cisco’s bickering was slightly overused, but Harry is one of the better versions of Wells on the show and he and Cisco’s banter has been missed. The show once again showcased their friendship and if Harry’s sticking around, it’s clear that it’s only because Cisco asked him to and he feels welcome because of him. No one else has connected with him in the way that he has and this weirdly applies to all the different versions of Harrison Wells so far. How long he’ll stick around is still a question, though. As much as it’s nice to see Harry again, his presence isn’t one that is necessarily needed. There are already too many people in STAR Labs and, besides his moments with Cisco, the team was functioning just fine without him.

Speaking of Harry, the only reason he came over from Earth-2 was to give Wally a “break-up cube,” which is apparently a thing on Earth-2. Wally, all set and ready to meet Jesse for their date night, ends up heartbroken after discovering that Jesse didn’t have the decency to confront him face-to-face about dumping him. Although this particular scene was played for laughs, the humor further fueled Wally’s embarrassment of hearing that he’s being dumped in front of his family and friends. It was a tragic moment and one that went on for too long. Wally deserved better than to be humiliated like that.

Wally then disappears for most of the episode only to come back and tell the team that he’s leaving Central City to go find himself (offscreen) because he doesn’t feel like he has a place on the team right now. To be fair, yes, the team didn’t notice his absence, nor did anyone talk to him about his break-up. And yes, there were also other things going on, but in terms of the narrative, it speaks to how little the writers try with Wally. There could have been a better lead up to his departure, but except for a couple of stray lines, Wally hasn’t gotten much screen time since the season started. The goodbye scene was simultaneously sad and felt completely out of left field. If he’s to develop, doing it offscreen is a disservice to his character (perhaps Keiynan Lonsdale asking for some time off the show.) All in all, it didn’t sit well and his leaving was shocking and heartbreaking all at once.

Katie Yu/The CW

Finally, “Luck Be a Lady” completely assassinated Jesse’s character. Knowing she probably won’t return to the show, the writers had the opportunity to use her absence as a way for Wally to leave for awhile without making it dramatic or strange. Instead, they have her break up with Wally by way of her father and then we learn she basically kicked Harry off of her own version of Team Flash. Not only that, but Harry made all of this sound like some sort of life sentence. Are we to believe that he can never go back to Earth-2 because of his dispute with Jesse? Are we to also believe that Jesse has some sort of power to banish Harry from an entire Earth? It’s lazy writing and the episode turned her into a cold-hearted person knowing that that’s not who she was at all. The entire situation could have been handled better without throwing Jesse under the bus.

Ultimately, “Luck Be a Lady” proved to be another entertaining outing for The Flash. The metahuman of the week was memorable and we didn’t have to wait long to see how she tied back to The Thinker and then to Barry’s escape from the speed force. It’s nice to know there are still consequences without it turning into an angst fest. Furthermore, the comedy mostly hit the right beats, with Patton, Gustin, and Carlos Valdes being standouts. As mentioned before, there was a lot happening in this episode and also too many characters vying for attention. While some things could have been removed or condensed for the sake of better pacing, the humorous moments, some character development, and a great meta still made for a fun episode.

Random Thoughts:

Wally’s departure still stings. It stings even more knowing he’ll probably be gone for awhile and he didn’t even get a scene where someone talked to him.

“Maybe we should burn some sage.” Did I already mention that I’m loving Candice Patton doing more comedy this season? It’s just so nice to see this side of Iris.

Please note that Barry wears clip-on ties.

Cisco thinks Harry is so salty about everything all the time. There are no lies there, though.

Becky was really memorable even though it was annoying how much she didn’t care for anyone.

“Every hero has their own journey.” Yes, yes, but it doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t happen onscreen. Wally is being so shortchanged and it’s sad.

They really did Jesse so wrong in this episode. They couldn’t have just had Wally go to Earth-2 to begin with?

Barry and Cisco looked so offended over that kid calling them old.

Harry has been banished from Earth-2. Apparently, you can be banished from an entire earth if a speedster so deems necessary. *insert eyeroll*

Cisco’s t-shirt at one point says something about Haiku’s not making sense.

I usually don’t care for the “bad luck seeing the bride” stuff, but in this case it really was bad luck. Love that the show is making some of these traditions so that they’re relevant to the plot.

The church scene is comedic gold. I had to put down my drink for fear of it going down the wrong pipe.

Is Joe actually ready for another child though? The look on his face says no. Man has his hands full already.

70%

70%

Pretty Good

While some things could have been removed or condensed for the sake of better pacing, the humorous moments, some character development, and a great meta still made for a fun episode.

About Author

Mae is a Washington, DC-based film critic, entertainment journalist and Weekend Editor at Heroic Hollywood. A member of the Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), she's a geek who loves discussing movies and TV. She is also a voting member of the Black Reel Awards. If she's not at the movies, she's catching up on her superhero TV-watching, usually with a glass of wine in hand.